US to sanction Chinese nationals, organizations for its opioid crisis


Devdiscourse News Desk | Washington DC | Updated: 21-08-2019 20:23 IST | Created: 21-08-2019 20:15 IST
US to sanction Chinese nationals, organizations for its opioid crisis
Representative image Image Credit: Flickr
  • Country:
  • United States

The United States will be putting sanction on some Chinese nationals and organizations for its opioid crisis. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department and Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced today coordinated actions to bring additional financial pressure upon those who manufacture, sell, or distribute synthetic opioids or their precursor chemicals.

The OFAC has identified Chinese national Fujing Zheng (Zheng) and the Zheng Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) as significant foreign narcotics traffickers in accordance with the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).

also designated one additional Chinese national, Guanghua Zheng, for his support to the Zheng DTO’s drug trafficking activities, as well as one Chinese entity, Qinsheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., for being owned or controlled by Fujing Zheng. Xiaobing Yan (Yan) was also identified as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker.

Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker said, "The Chinese kingpins that OFAC designated today run an international drug trafficking operation that manufactures and sells lethal narcotics, directly contributing to the crisis of opioid addiction, overdoses, and death in the United States.  Zheng and Yan have shipped hundreds of packages of synthetic opioids to the US, targeting customers through online advertising and sales, and using commercial mail carriers to smuggle their drugs into the United States."

“OFAC and FinCEN’s coordinated action with U.S. law enforcement leverages Treasury’s authorities to confront the deadly synthetic opioid crisis plaguing America,” he further added.

Also today, FinCEN issued an advisory to alert financial institutions to financial schemes related to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

FinCEN Director Kenneth A. Blanco said, "We are making the financial sector aware of tactics and typologies behind illicit schemes to launder the proceeds of these fatal drug sales, including transactions using digital currency and foreign bank accounts. Financial institutions must be on alert to red flags and other indicators of the complex schemes fentanyl traffickers are employing so that financial institutions can report and share relevant information with law enforcement, and ultimately help save lives."

Give Feedback